I have been in Asia a long time, in 21 countries. I was just down in Indonesia where Japan is remembered as key to Indonesia's liberation.

Japanese are held in such high esteem that 16 Japanese Soldiers are buried at the Indonesion version of Arlington. Some of those Japanese were buried under Christian crosses, which is interesting given that most of the people buried there are Muslims.

And now I am in the library section of the National Museum in Bangkok, Thailand, with fellow researchers.

Many people do not realize that Thailand was an Axis power in World War II, and was allied with Japan.

Earlier, Japan helped Thailand defeat the French. Japan did not actually fight, but helped Thailand variously such as with weapons.

Thailand redeemed earlier conquests from the French and British that took almost 80% of Thai territory and in 1940 beat the French with its own heart and hands.

There were naval battles against superior French ships. Thailand used four Japanese submarines, and Japanese and American weapons. In the air, Thailand used Japanese and American airplanes.

The French signed the surrender document on a Japanese cruiser Natori.

The peace treaty was signed in Tokyo and returned much land to Thailand.

Many Thais believe that Thailand never has been occupied but this is partially true. Large parts of Thailand were stolen by the French, for one, and the Japanese negotiated the peace treaty to get it back, but it was Thailand who recovered its own land.

And then came WWII. Japan invaded Thailand but the battle was short and ceremonial to save face to allow Japan to come in. Japan and Thailand soon were allies, though there was the Seri Thai (Free Thai) movement and other nuances.

From the link below:

The former Prime Minister of Thailand, Kukrit Pramoj, who was Chief Editor of the newspaper ‘Siam Rath’ at the time and who took office as Prime Minister in 1973, stated:

“It was thanks to Japan that all nations of Asia gained independence. For Mother Japan, it was a difficult birth which resulted in much suffering, yet her children are growing up quickly to be healthy and strong.

"Who was it that enabled the citizens of the nations of Southeast Asia to gain equal status alongside the United States and Britain today? It is because Japan, who acted like a mother to us all, carried out acts of benevolence towards us and performed feats of self-sacrifice.

"December 8th is the day when Mother Japan – who taught us this important lesson – laid her life on the line for us, after making a momentous decision and risking her own well-being for our sake.
Furthermore, August 15th is the day when our beloved and revered mother was frail and ailing. Neither of these two days should ever be forgotten”.

Yesterday, China held one last party on the Titanic before the ship sinks into the sea, and we all saw South Korean President Park stands beside Chinaman Xi Jinping despite the request of U.S. not to attend the military parade.

While South Korea is dependent on the U.S. for its security vis-à-vis North Korea, saying “US Army is behind us,” “we call a B2 bomber” and so on, it appears S. Korea wants to go back to the vassal state of China as it had been over 1,000 years before Japan’s annexation of 40 years.

Without China’s intervention in the Korean War, the Korean Peninsular might have been united under the U.N./S. Korea joint forces. Chinese Army killed a large number of Korean young soldiers in the war. With what reason President Park can attend the military parade of the one-party military despot China? I wonder how long the U.S continues to spoil this problem child.

I trust it poses a great risk for western democracies to provide industrial/military critical information to the copycat South Korea since such information might be delivered to China.

One probable intention of that woman from S.K. may be: “In the not so distant future, we can annex the North with the help of China, then we can get out of the economic difficulties we now suffer. On top of that, we can become a nuclear power standing over the long-standing foe, Japan. We can then extort anything we want from it, and will become the richest state in the East Asia!”